A BATTLE FOR OUR SOULS

Fresh From saving the solar system while being intro-duced to God and his Church in The Truth Is Out There and defeating a lunar megalomaniac determined to re-write salvation history in The Big Picture, Brendan and Erc land in a magnificant domed city on Mars—for what is supposed to be a simple shuttle job.

But soon they find themselves caught up in a sinister assault on faith and freedom. Will Mars be lost to the Enemy? Brendan and Erc’s only hope for the fight is in the power of God’s sacramental gifts.

Everybody’s favorite Catholic outer-space delivery pilots return for their greatest adventure yet!

AM

AD

EU

STH

E W

EAPON

S O

F W

AR

3

catholic.com

Amadeus is the pen name of a contemplative monk -priest who lives a life of prayer, adoration, work, and

study in central Massachusetts.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will help support the Maronite Monks of Adoration.

www.maronitemonks.org

Graphic Novel/Religion

1

Mars: Daedalia Planum region.

Here’s our first target.

Launch TF Drone!

Acquiring...

ZZZZF P

2

What just happened?!?

We’ve lost contact with the drone!

It’s probably a dud. Just drop

the spare…

All right. Launching spare...

I sure hope this works…

3 3

Meanwhile, on earth…

I baptize you…

In the name of the

Father…

And of the Son…

I can’t believe it...

And of the Holy Spirit.

After so much waiting and so many

doubts…

The previous day...

I know baptism will change me…

But can I live up to it? I mean, as a son of God??

Not to worry! Nobody could live up to it without

God’s constant help!

4

Here. I was going to give you this

tomorrow…

But it sounds like you need it

more today!

A gift??

Just a small reminder of God’s great love for you!

It’s beautiful! Thank you!

Oof! Hmph!

Brendan, you have

become a new creation and have clothed yourself in Christ…

Receive this baptismal garment and bring it unstained to the judgment seat of

our Lord Jesus Christ, so that you may have

everlasting life.

You have been enlightened by

Christ…

Walk always as a child of the light and keep

the flame of faith alive in your heart…

Brendan, be sealed with the Gift of the Holy

Spirit.

So many gifts!

The Body of Christ.

The Blood of Christ.

How can I thank you, my God?!

5

The next day...

Good morning! Have you

thought about God today?

God??

6

Soon…

How can you not see how

unfair that is??

What’s unfair?? It’s God’s house...

he can invite whomever he wants!

That’s fine if God were just

a celebrity throwing a party, but he’s GOD!!

He’s supposed to be nice to

everyone!

And he wouldn’t be if he didn’t

let everyone into heaven?

NO!

Didn’t you just say that our deepest

desire is for heaven?

And that God put

that desire in us?

Yes…

So how could he not deliver on his

promise?? How could God lie to us?!

And if the devil wanted to find his fulfillment in heaven, should God

let him in too?

I don’t see why not! Didn’t

Jesus say to love your

enemies?* *Cf Matt 5:44

Yeah, and he also said…

“Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his

angels!”*

*Matt 25:41

Sounds like the devil’s out

of luck!

Anyway, I think that if the devil ever entered heaven, he would find

himself in hell.

Why’s that??

Because heaven is nothing more, nor less, than the

closest possible union with God for all eternity!

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For someone who hates God, it would be worse than being stuck

on a desert island with your worst enemy.

That’s the fulfillment of my deepest desire?? Union with God??

How boring!

What did you think it would be??

Hmm, heaven…

Heaven…

Would have…

LARGE FLUFFY CATS!!!

Hmph! That’s ridiculous!

Everyone knows you can’t have heaven without Rocky

Road ice cream!

Mmm…

Heaven is much better than that!

In fact, we couldn’t be satisfied with anything less

than God himself!*

*See Vol. 1 Chap. 7

As St. Augustine put it, Our hearts are restless

till they rest in God.

That is, in a personal loving union with God

forever!

Even in this life, our greatest pleasures come

from intimate relationships with others…

Wait! Aren’t we already united

with God? Isn’t he everywhere??

If so, then we’re already in heaven, right?

8

Sure, God’s everywhere, but heaven’s not!

Otherwise this would be

heaven!

Ugh!Good point.

God is everywhere, keeping everything in existence by his

power…

And although we can

even enjoy friendship

with him now by his grace, a friendship

that continues forever…

Heaven’s more than that! It’s the

eternal life that Jesus promised his disciples; the face to face vision

of God, where there’s no sadness or suffering!

Indeed, eye has not seen nor ear

heard what God has prepared for those

who love him!*

*Cf. 1 Cor 2:9

This is all too complicated!

I just want my fair share of eternal

happiness, not this religious stuff!

None of us has a fair share of heaven, since

none but God has a right to live a divine life.

Sounds like you’re out of

luck!

So we’re back to God teasing us

with something we can’t have!

That’s not it either. We can’t get to heaven naturally, but we can

get there through grace!

...Since it’s only by grace that one becomes a child of God, sharing in his divine life for all

eternity!

Otherwise, our nature has as much hope of sharing in God’s

life as a plant has of sharing in a family dinner...

But God’s grace can do the impossible!

And where does this “grace” come from?

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By it, he won more than

enough grace for us all to get to

heaven!

So everyone does go to

heaven!

If everyone went straight to heaven, then I don’t see why Christ would have bothered to

warn anyone about going to hell!

I think it was St.

Augustine who said…

“God who created you without you will not save you without you.”

So let’s say everyone who’s more or less

good goes to heaven.

Heaven isn’t full of people who

are more or less good…

Heaven is for saints! And God tells us that saints are those who love him and do

his will.

Well and good if that’s what you want

to believe...

But My God is more

inclusive than yours!

Lady, there’s just one God in this universe!

Uh, did you want your bag of snack mix now or after we land?

From Christ’s sacrifice on the cross of

course!

Thank God we’re

here.

10

Soon…

Another satisfied

customer!

Remind me again why we have to lug people along with the mail?

Because the company

said so?

Hey Brendan and Erc!

[Pant] [Pant] The boss is looking

for you two! He wants to see you in

his office ASAP!

Thanks, Joe, we’ll be right there.

Captains Brendan and Erc are here

to see you sir.

Send them in, Nicki.

Captains, thank you for

coming...

Tell me, what do you see when you look out into

space?

A bunch of little white dots?

I’ll tell you what I see… I see OPPORTUNITY!

Big things are happening on Mars! The

planet is on the verge of a major breakthrough, and we need a stronger

presence there!

Besides, I’m hearing a lot of complaints about you, and this is your chance to

redeem yourselves…

You’re both to report to Mars by the end of

the week!

WHAT!?!

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A few days later...

Here we are!

Oof! Umph!

WARNING! WARNING!

?!? Sorry, but that bag will have to be checked in!

Later...

O my

poor

pursie!

010011

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From the dawn of the space age, humans have thought of turning

Mars into another Earth...

But lack of resources and technology have held back that

dream for another day...

At last, that day has come!

Three things are needed to bring Mars back to life: Heat,

Air, and Water.

Recently, RoboCo has paved the way for all of them…

First, the planet’s surface was warmed using a massive space mirror...

Then an artificial magnetosphere was established on the Martian moon Phobus to keep the atmosphere from

escaping into space.

Finally, drones were launched into volcanoes scattered throughout the planet, causing planet-wide eruptions.

This will thicken the atmosphere within weeks, which processing drones can then change into

breathable air...

In just over a year, Mars may be unrecognizable. No longer a Red, lifeless Planet, but a living world

full of color!

…And Humankind’s greatest hopes will at last be realized!

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned...

13

Huh?

A few lines from an old poem* to give my respects to the new “Paradise Planet.”

It’s no place for Christians,

you know.

What do you mean?

Your cross...

Aren’t you Christians??

No, we’re Catholics!

Heh, heh… we’re both.

I hope you don’t plan to evangelize

Mars. There’s never been a more godless

planet!

Oh no! Our company is

transferring us there. How about yourself?

My job is sending me

to Mars too.So what do you do…

The trouble with you

Catholics is that you work too hard to be

saved!

What’s that supposed to mean??

Romans 10:9 clearly says that faith is all you need to get to

heaven!

“If you confess with your lips that Jesus is

Lord and believe in your heart

that God raised him from the

dead, you will be saved.”

But you say that a man has to be baptized and jump

through countless hoops to even hope for salvation!

*William Butler Yeats, “The Second Coming.”

14

We’re only repeating what Jesus said…

“He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but

he who does not believe will be condemned.”*

*Mark 16:16

Then why does Paul say otherwise?

I think he’s emphasizing the importance of faith in the life

of a Christian, since, without it, baptism wouldn’t amount to much.

So those who have faith but aren’t baptized can be saved after all!

Um…

Oh? Example One: The Good Thief on the cross next to Jesus. Never baptized, yet he’s

saved…

Example Two: The prophets, like Elijah, were never

baptized, yet they were saved!

Uh, there’s a really good reason for

that…

Tell ‘em Brendan!

Well, it may seem like a

contradiction, but it’s not...

The answer lies in there being more than one baptism.

Hey! I thought you could only be baptized once!

I mean that, aside from a baptism by water, there’s

also a baptism of blood and a baptism of desire.

You baptize people in blood?! How primitive!

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No, no, baptism of blood is when someone dies for

Christ, even though he was never baptized

with water...*

*See CCC #1258

In this way, a person is joined to the Body of

Christ by faith, and the ultimate witness of that

faith by martyrdom.

Then there are those who sincerely love God and repent of their sins, and so implicitly desire

baptism…These are joined to Christ by a

baptism of desire.*

*See Acts 10:44 & CCC #1260

I wish I could be joined to a

cheeseburger by just desiring it!

The holy prophets and the good thief would have been saved by this kind of baptism, since they had a sincere love of God and hatred

for their sins.

If faith is so necessary in these baptisms, how can

you baptize babies?? A child can’t have faith

without reason!

Nobody ever made a fuss about circumcising

babies!

What??

I think he means that, just as circumcision made a boy part of God’s chosen people, in

the Old Covenant…

So in the New Covenant, children are brought

into the People of God through Baptism.*

*Cf. Col 2:11

But where’s the faith?? Don’t you agree that,

without faith, baptism is worthless?

It’s in the parents,

the godparents, the Church…

Just as Jesus accepted the faith of the four friends of the paralytic and forgave his sins*…

*Luke 5:20

So the faith of the Church makes up for what is lacking in the child

being baptized!

Besides, the child’s faith is

nourished through instruction as he

grows.

Ho! Ho! A slam dunk!

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I’ve had about enough of you!

Anytime you want a “baptism of blood” just let me know!

ERC!

Let’s go!

Excuse me…

Would you like anything

to drink?

Yes, some grape juice,

please.

I’ll have an apple juice.

Ginger ale for

me!

Here you go!

No drinks till you both shake hands and forgive.

Sorry.

S’alright.

Never heard of a grown man drinking grape juice before!

I thought only sick

people drank ginger ale!